Microsoft: ‘Hardware’ to Blame for Shaky Windows 8 Demo in Taiwan

A demo in Taiwan of new devices running the highly hyped reboot of Microsoft’s Windows operating system on Friday was memorable mostly for its glitches, prompting Microsoft representatives to say some of the devices were not quite up to speed.

Microsoft employees manning the Windows 8 demo, staged in downtown Taipei, had trouble getting applications to close on the large “all-in-one” desktops produced by Taiwanese computer makers Acer Inc. and Asustek Computer Inc. They consistently guided reporters to look at the tablet devices instead.

All-in-one PCs are desktop computers made of only one piece, instead of a separate tower and monitor, and are gaining popularity because of their sleek profile.

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A model displays an ASUS VivoBook laptop computer beside an ASUS logo during a press conference in Taipei on October 24, 2012. Taiwan's Asus started selling new products running on Microsoft's much-anticipated Windows 8 operating system from October 26.

“It was pretty rushed to the launch date, and the user experience will improve,” said Yi-Fang Chu, senior consumer marketing manager for Microsoft Taiwan.

“It is a hardware issue, rather than a software one,” she added. “It’s partly because of the large screen size of the all-in-ones.”

Acer and Asustek declined to comment on the non-responsiveness of demo devices.

The glitches emerged a day after J.T. Wang, the chairman of the world’s fourth-largest computer maker, Acer, said he wasn’t sure whether consumers would like Windows 8, which Microsoft has spent billions producing. Mr. Wang also criticized Microsoft’s decision to launch its own Surface tablet, thus competing with its hardware partners.

The Surface was absent from the Taipei Windows 8 event Friday. Microsoft managers said that was because there is not yet a firm launch date for the device in Taiwan.

With Apple’s iPad stealing sales and the global economy limping, PC makers are seeing shipments decline faster than they have in more than a decade. They’ve been hoping Microsoft’s new touch-enabled operating system, which launched on Thursday, will draw consumers back into stores.

Consumers were few and far between at Guang Hua Mall, the Taipei electronics shopping center picked by Microsoft for a separate media photo-op on Friday afternoon – a marked contrast with the work-skipping, overnight-camping, paper-bag-breathing fandom that accompanies Apple device launches.

Sales representatives at the mall said customers were mainly dropping in on Friday to try out the new system, not buy.

An engineer named Denny Huang tried out some Windows 8 laptops and said he liked the colorful tile design, but was still unlikely to switch as he was accustomed to using Windows 7. Another shopper, Jack Hua, said the higher price of Windows 8 touch-based devices was the sticking point. Windows 8 laptops with touchscreens run around US$500 at the low end, compared to roughly US$300 for a similar laptop without touch features.

Back at the launch event downtown, Davis Tsai, general manager of Microsoft Taiwan, also discussed the glitches in display devices, noting that the smaller devices like tablets were more responsive to finger touch-control.

“(Closing applications with a downward swipe of the finger) works much better when you use the tablets,” Mr. Tsai said. “The all-in-ones are bigger, so it is easier if you use the mouse for them.”

Ms. Chu added that the new glass screens on all-in-ones were not as responsive when brand-new, but the oils from fingers made them work better with increased use.